Lake Level

I just noticed that the lake level is two feet lower than the same date a year ago and doesn't seem to be rising very quickly... In fact this year we haven't seemed to get a fast rising level at any point. Maybe there is stored water up stream but if local rain is any indication we are below average to date. This year may be a test of the 'agreements' to keep the lake level up, vamos a ver....

The rainy season is no where near over yet and the lake is just a little more than a metre below the 2008 high. We'll likely see higher levels before the year is out. In any case, it's a long way up from where it was even 5 years ago.

To me, the problem shown is the overabundance of weed grasses. Now, killing off the lirio a couple of years ago also devastated the natural nesting habitats of our local lakebirds, which was nasty, but at least it cleaned up the lake. There has to be a reason why these new growths are suddenly growing so rapidly. It suggests still waters.

If I look at an image of Lake Chapala via google earth I notice that the lake west of Chapala is white. I think the satellite doesn't know whether it's water or land. Start zooming in and you'll notice all the sediment swirling around in currents. Some terms for this come to mind, such as coloidal murkiness, swamp lite, diluted cess pit, and just plain yucky, yucky, yucky. Love the lago, very picturesque and all, but, should I happen to fall in, I'm getting totally sanitized. On that note - hot springs, hot tubs - NEVER submerge your ears. Forget the name of the disease but lost a friend who contracted it in Greece just swimming.

I just noticed that the lake level is two feet lower than the same date a year ago and doesn't seem to be rising very quickly... In fact this year we haven't seemed to get a fast rising level at any point. Maybe there is stored water up stream but if local rain is any indication we are below average to date. This year may be a test of the 'agreements' to keep the lake level up, vamos a ver....

Since lirio is not "natural" to the lake it's not likely that killing it off "devastated the natural habitat."

The killing of the lirio, which was a good thing, also decimated all the natural weedlife along the south shore. All of it. For almost two years, there have been almost no grassy or marshy areas for the lake birds. This disaster, little noted by most, was an unfortunate side-effect of the lirio killing. Now, the grassy areas are coming back, but they seem to be overly-thriving. I can see areas from my window where there is now more watergrass than I have ever seen. The water along the edges of the little bays in the area would have to be either stagnant or over-saturated with algae for this to happen.